If you watched certain YouTube videos, investigators demanded your data | Hacker News Reader

If you watched certain YouTube videos, investigators demanded your data

mashable.com

87 pointsbegueradj8 comments

It isn't clear, but it seems like investigators are saying "Give us a list of all IPs that watched these 8 youtube videos on this day". Considering all of the videos have 30,000 views total, if the videos were independent in some manner(ie not by the same creator, or recommended one after the other), the odds seem really low that more than 1 person watched all of them.

This seems in line with other types of legal subpoenas - I can't recall the exact situation, but after a string of bank robberies across a state, police subpoenaed cell tower records for cell phones that had pinged towers near each bank while it was being robbed, and that quickly led them to the robbers.

edit: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/08/how-cell-tower-d...

Turns out the cops got all the cell tower records for 4 rural robberies, and did the intersection themselves, but I don't know why the phone co couldn't do that.

I think I'd rather have some democratic governmental agency process the data, and just have the private entities provide it. It's much easier to make rules assuming the private companies are never supposed to process the data instead of trying to carve out exceptions.

I don't actually trust YouTube with processing my watch history when I use their service, but I don't have any other options.

It is very likely that they will only detect

1) automation scripts like https://addshore.com/2022/09/hunting-youtube-crypto-scams/

2) scrapers from analytics systems

3) botnet nodes to boost view count

> The videos were sent by undercover police to a suspected cryptocurrency launderer under the username "elonmuskwhm." In conversations with the bitcoin trader, investigators sent links to public YouTube tutorials on mapping via drones and augmented reality software, Forbes details. The videos were watched more than 30,000 times, presumably by thousands of users unrelated to the case.

> YouTube's parent company Google was ordered by federal investigators to quietly hand over all such viewer data for the period of Jan. 1 to Jan. 8, 2023, but Forbes couldn't confirm if Google had complied.

Another reason to be cautious about giving services your phone number.

> [0] Not many realize this, but a telephone number is one instant, low-cost API call to a data broker away from your name, physical address, associated/other email addresses, date of birth, etc.

[0] https://sneak.berlin/20200220/discord-is-not-an-acceptable-c...

A post on the topic from yesterday https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39796550

I assume they did, or Google would be bragging to Forbes about how they refused and how they care so much about their user's privacy.

For many of use this kind of overreach in power has existed for our adult lives but it was not always so: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/09/13/utah-librarians-talk/

If it was only investigators using my data, I'd be much happier...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com